During the event, widely covered by the media, the risks for health, safety and the release of a driving license were discussed by a panel of experts.

According to Dr. Claudio F. Donner, pulmonologist and President of Mondo Respiro Foundation “Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSAS) is very frequent: it is estimated that 24% of males and 9% of females of mid age are affected. In Italy, estimates say that OSAS patients needing therapy are one million six hundred thousand”.

“Our research show clearly how in Italy such disease is not only little known but, above all, underdiagnosed” said Mr. Andrea Benedetti, Business Manager at App4Health, online platform for digital health that offers products and services for OSAS diagnosis and care, as well as for other therapies. “In France we estimated that 88% of OSAS patients are under therapy – it’s the European nation showing the greatest attention to OSAS – Germany the percentage is 85% and 71% in Spain; OSAS patients under therapy in Italy are only 17%” reported Benedetti. “This means that a large number of people, mainly male, are putting their own health at risk as well as their own and other people safety without being aware”.

OSAS implications on safety are concerning, particularly when it comes to driving: studies show that driving in a distract way, which includes driving when sleepy, is causing 1 car accident out of 5. Such accidents are often among the worst ones as they involve a more than double mortality risk compared to accident caused by other reasons. According the EU Directive, Italy introduced a law to strictly control OSAS symptoms in order to get a proper diagnosis, and eventually a therapy, for those requesting or renewing a driving license.

In case of doubt, for a first evaluation App4Health offers an online test called Berlin Questionnaire, a scientifically validated questionnaire, in its website (ITA) at App4Health.